Japanese Angelica Tree

Here's an invasive species that you'll sometimes see dominating an area, a Japanese Angelica Tree aka Chinese Angelica Tree aka Korean Angelica Tree. (Maybe it would be better to call them Asian Angelica Trees when they span countries like this ... but I'm not authorized to improve the naming convention.)

This small tree is obviously crowding out some native plants. Near the Hawk Watch area of Washington Valley Park there's a patch of them where it looks like they're the only things growing there, so I don't dispute the "invasive species" tag they've acquired.

Having said that, they are supposed to be very similar to and closely related to a species that's native to southern NJ, western Pennsylvania, and much of the southeastern US, the Devil's Walking Stick aka Angelica Tree (video here). AFAIK the Devil's Walking Stick doesn't take over an ecosystem the way Japanese Angelica Trees do, though it's unclear what prevents that and why it doesn't also apply to Japanese Angelica Trees. My impression is that humans commonly/easily misidentify these 2 trees with 1 another.

At a distance they probably don't stand out much.

September 22, 2022 at Washington Valley Park
Photo 248785519, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Getting closer you'll see their large bipinnately compound leaves. (The picture below is mostly just 1 leaf with lots of leaflets.)

September 22, 2022 at Washington Valley Park
Photo 248785495, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Although the picture below is (almost certainly) a Japanese Angelica Tree, it's easy to see from their main trunk why their cousins are called Devil's Walking Sticks. If you used it (trimmed of leaves) as a walking stick, it'd probably be some sort of devilish punishment.

September 22, 2022 at Washington Valley Park
Photo 248785502, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

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